


The Elixir of Life

by richmahogany



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: College, Gen, I'm sure you can guess why, no need to tag for drug addiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-22
Updated: 2016-11-22
Packaged: 2018-09-01 12:48:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8625028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/richmahogany/pseuds/richmahogany
Summary: At the tender age of 13, Spencer Reid was introduced to the drug he would remain a slave to for the rest of his life.





	

When they accepted Spencer Reid as a student, the university administrators knew that they would have to make special accommodations. It wasn’t the first time they had admitted someone in their early teens, but they had always been accompanied by a parent. In Spencer’s case, that would not be possible, which made some of the staff reluctant to agree. But at the same time the university was keen to sign up a prodigy like Spencer Reid, and so they came to an arrangement. One of the student counsellors was tasked with particular responsibility for the boy and to take on the role of guardian to some degree. In their wisdom, the administrators also put Spencer into a (single) dorm room right next to that of a sophomore named Carl Hansen. Carl was already 25 – he had served in the Marines for a few years before deciding that his future lay in engineering. He was laidback and easy going, but sensible and mature. When the university had proposed that Carl should keep an eye on the boy, he had not been exactly keen to play babysitter for a bratty know-it-all, but as a native of Minnesota, niceness was in his DNA, and so he agreed to keep an eye on the 13 year old freshman. When he actually met the kid, he found him likable and not bratty at all. Spencer appeared to be shy and somewhat eccentric, mostly silent until suddenly erupting in a torrent of facts and figures. Because he was friendly and eager to please (if a bit clumsy in his attempts to do so), Carl found his oddities more endearing than annoying. They didn’t exactly become friends, but Carl was happy to provide a reassuring background presence for the kid.

For Spencer, college didn’t turn out to be the paradise he had envisioned when he finally left high school, but it was definitely a change for the better. Sure, even here there was the pointing and whispering, calling him “freak” and “weirdo” behind his back and sometimes to his face, but at least no one had beaten him up or stuffed him into a locker, yet. He hated the fact that he was so much smaller than everyone else. On average, boys grow fastest between the ages of 14 and 16, he knew, so hopefully he wouldn’t have to wait too long for his own growth spurt. 

Then there were the classes, which were much more interesting than at school. The best, however, was the library. When he found out that with his student card he could borrow any book he wanted, he had jumped for joy. The first few weeks of his first term were spent bingeing on textbooks. Anything he could get his hands on: math, physics, engineering, chemistry, astronomy, history, literature – Spencer devoured them all, as if he feared that the college authorities could realize at any time that they had given him too much access and revoked his library card. Spencer was lucky enough to have grown up in a household with a lot of books, but they had mainly focused on his mother’s specialty, literature. There was the public library of course, but which books he could take out of there depended on which librarian was on duty. If it was the nice librarian, he could take anything he wanted. If it was the strict librarian, however, she would only let him borrow books from the adult section when his mother was with him (which most of the time she wasn’t). He had read all the good stuff in the kids’ section by the time he was seven, and he thought it was highly unfair that he should have to confine himself to low quality (and boring!) children’s books when there was so much more good stuff to be had in the adult section. Unfortunately he had never been able to work out the librarians’ shift pattern, so he couldn’t time his visits to coincide with the nice librarian. 

Here, however, he was free to read anything he wanted, and so, like a kid in the candystore, he grabbed everything he could with both hands.  
Consequently he stumbled into the kitchen area of his dorm in the morning, barely able to keep his eyes open, because he had spent most of his nights reading. He just couldn’t stop himself. Sleep became insignificant when there was so much knowledge to be absorbed! Unfortunately his body now caught up with him. He almost dropped his bowl of cereal before he managed to slam it onto the table and climb onto a chair.  
Carl, who had been drinking his coffee in the kitchen, watched him with a mixture of amusement and concern. He could guess what the kid had been up to, and so he said to him:  
“The library is not going to turn back into a pumpkin anytime soon, you know.”  
Spencer gave him that look he always had when he suspected that someone was making fun of him, before concentrating on guiding the spoon into his mouth.  
Carl sighed, got up, took a second mug out of the cupboard, filled it with coffee and set it before Spencer.  
“Try some of this,” he said.   
Spencer eyed the mug warily.   
“Coffee is actually a psychoactive drug,” he said, “it’s a stimulant and can cause physical dependence. In children it can cause headaches, increased heartrate, decreased concentration and jitteriness. My mother never let me have any for these reasons.”  
Carl leaned forward and spoke conspiratorially.  
“You’re not a child, Spencer, you’re a college student. And this, my friend” – he pointed to his own mug – “is what makes student life possible. It calms your nerves when you’re frazzled. It perks you up when you’re down. It enables you to get to the 9 o’clock lecture. It will get you through all-night study sessions – not that I recommend that you make those a regular feature in your schedule, but sometimes you just have to. In any situation that college life throws you into, coffee is your best friend. Believe me: let coffee into your life, and you’ll never look back.”  
Spencer cautiously sniffed the aroma rising from his mug.  
“It sure smells good.”  
“Taste it, then – you’ll see!”  
Spencer took a small sip and immediately turned his head away in disgust.  
“Bitter!”  
“Ah, yes. Now, personally, that’s what I like about it. But for others, there’s sugar. Try this.”  
He pushed the sugarbowl towards the kid. Spencer grabbed the spoon, and before Carl could stop him, he had shovelled four spoonfuls into his mug. He stirred, tasted again, added a fifth spoonful. He took another sip, and this time a dreamy smile spread over his face.  
“Oh yeah!”  
This was what Carl had promised. Hot, smooth and sweet, but with a sharp edge to it which stimulated his senses. The smell was intoxicating, the taste invigorating, and the effect on his nervous system – well, it was possible that it was only the placebo effect, but suddenly he felt able to face the day. He was more alert, but not hyped up, more calm and happy. Somehow this beverage gave him the power to deal with anything. Slowly he sipped and sipped, until he had emptied the mug.   
He sighed contentedly, then pushed the mug across the table towards Carl.  
“Please,” he said, “can I have some more?”


End file.
